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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28820847">The Greatest of These....</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Regalredstar/pseuds/Regalredstar'>Regalredstar</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Damned Book... [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman &amp; Terry Pratchett, Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 11:52:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>982</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28820847</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Regalredstar/pseuds/Regalredstar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There was a reason that Crowley chose to throw in his hat with the Winchesters.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Damned Book... [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2113152</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>78</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Greatest of These....</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When the Winchesters asked Crowley why he helped them, he said that it was because he liked the world just the way that it was and had no desire to see it destroyed. Plus saving the world would also save his own skin. It would surprise them very much to know that that was not a lie. Oh, not the part about saving his own skin. They believed that part easily enough. But the part about liking the world? They would never believe that that part was not a lie.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>At least not entirely a lie.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>At least, it had not been a lie at a previous point in Crowley’s existence.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There had in fact been a point in time in which Crowley was generally quite fond of the world and had fought quite fiercely to make sure that it continued. But that was before.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>So while saying that he liked the world and didn't want it destroyed wasn't entirely a lie, it wasn't exactly true either. Of course none of them would believe the truth, even if he told them. Not that that stopped them from trying to find out of course.  His true motivations were a frequent topic of conversation around the table at Singer Salvage. None of them ever got it right, but Crowley liked to listen to their guesses.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>________________________________________</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The one who got closest to learning the truth was Bobby.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was a couple of nights before everything was supposed to go down. Somehow or other he had found himself standing on the man’s porch looking out over the piles of junk he called a yard.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As he stared out at the junkyard, Crowley found himself doing something that he tried to actively avoid. Thinking. More specifically he found himself remembering. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He remembered the last time the idiots in heaven and hell tried the whole apocalypse thing. He remembered antique cars, Freddy Mercury, and Anti-Christs who weren’t. He remembers Arrangements, and Crepes, and the cursed 13th century. He remembers standing back-to-back with someone who should have been the enemy, ready to fight a battle just as hopeless as the one before him now. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Of course with the memories of “The-Apocalypse-That-Wasn't”, came the memories of what came after. Memories of demonic fingers grasping at black wings, destroying them feather by feather. Memories of the sight of angelic hands holding an equally bedraggled pair of white wings. The sound of a flaming blade leaving a scabbard… </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Crowley shook his head. It didn’t do to dwell too long in those memories. It wasn’t like he didn’t relive them often enough in his worst nightmares. (And yes, he did have nightmares. Crowley could and did sleep when he chose. And with sleep came dreams.) The fact that he had to wake to them being real just made them all the more unbearable.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was so lost in the past that he was almost, almost, surprised when Bobby came up beside him. Not that he didn’t know that the other man was there, but, well, humans, even Winchester affiliated humans rarely had the sheer gall it took to attempt to sneak up on him. Well, at least not after  they knew who and what he was. Which Singer most certainly did.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Why are you here?” Bobby’s voice came out in the same gruff bark that he used with just about everyone. Though Crowley thought that his voice wasn’t quite as hard as it had been all the previous times it had been aimed toward Crowley.  “And don’t give me that crap about wanting the world to stick around. We both know that you don’t do anything with a motive that altruistic.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Crowley huffed. He couldn’t deny the truth in that one. Any altruistic sentiments he might have had towards this world were rather forcefully cut out of him following the last apocalypse. Not that he would tell Singer that. The hunter was not getting his past. The last thing he needed was the other man’s pity. “Maybe I don’t have a reason.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>That caused Bobby to huff. “You don’t do anything without at least a half dozen reasons.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Crowley had to give him that. Under nearly any other circumstance he would be working all the angles, determined to come out on top, no matter what. It’s just that in this particular instance, the big reason overwhelms all other thoughts, leaving no room for anything else. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And that was the problem wasn’t it?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“As far as I can tell,” Crowley said, “when people are in an impossible fight, a fight that they cannot possibly win, there are three reasons why they fight anyway.” He paused. It wouldn’t do to give away too much. Still Bobby deserved something. Anyone who had the sheer gall to call a demon on their shit deserved something. “I fight for the greatest of these.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Bobby looked at him confused. Crowley teleported away before he could ask any more questions. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>________________________________________</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>All that led to today, with Crowley drawn towards  a battle that he had never thought that he would fight, his conversation with Bobby playing in his head. He knew that it hadn’t made much sense to the hunter, but it was the truest answer he could give. He might be fundamentally opposed to most of it, but the damned book was right about this. In the end, when all other reasons had failed, three stood firm. They were the end-all, be-all of all creation.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Well he had long since abandoned the first reason, and he had lost the second with the stroke of an angel killing blade. But the third reason? He couldn’t make that one go away no matter how hard he tried.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Those bastards had killed Aziraphale. For that they were all going to die.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.  - 1 Corinthians 13:13</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>In the document where I list random fan fiction ideas I found a single line: Supernatural + Good Omens + Crowley + Bible verses = ? <br/>This is what came of that prompt. Others will likely follow, hence me marking this as a part of a series. (At the very least I want to do a Dean centered one with James 5:16-which is totally something they should have done on the show imho.)<br/>-Regal</p></blockquote></div></div>
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